David Wiegand

American Odyssey is rooted in current events, which provides immediate credibility to the series. But like “Homeland,” “Person of Interest” and other shows, it also makes effective use of the post-9/11 air of wariness that wafts through American society. Conspiracy buffs will be in heaven watching American Odyssey, but the rest of us will just be completely hooked.

Hank Stuever

With a “Homeland”-style mastery of momentum and a “Traffic”-esque multi-narrative premise, Odyssey passes the biggest test of all when it comes to trying out new TV shows in today’s glut of offerings: As soon as the first episode was over, I was eager to see more.

Mary McNamara

American Odyssey is very much its own creation: clever, exciting, colorful without being self-consciously so. Most important, it is only occasionally ridiculous in the way conspiracy thrillers inevitably are.

Alessandra Stanley

It’s an exhilarating thriller that pits a disparate group of people against an insidious military-industrial conspiracy. But it’s the unlikely affinity between a stern, pious Muslim teenager and the captive female American soldier he is instructed to guard that gives this high-octane action-adventure drama a special charm.

Ellen Gray

Peter Facinelli (plays a former U.S. attorney and Jake Robinson an activist who are also getting dangerously close to the secret that threatens Sgt. Ballard, though it's Friel and Omar Ghazaoui, the young Moroccan playing her traveling companion, who are most responsible for making American Odyssey stand out from the conspiracy crowd.

Tirdad Derakhshani

Though it makes several seriously absurd leaps of logic, American Odyssey will be a must-see for conspiracy lovers. The show's only real downside is that its utterly hyperbolic and sensationalistic tone overshadows and obscures some of the real political issues it touches upon.

Ray Rahman

Tim Goodman

There are just too many short cuts or obvious turns as American Odyssey tries to deepen its machinations. If you can see the hands on the puppet strings, the whole thing ends up a lot less compelling than you imagined.

Sarah Rodman

American Odyssey has one gripping tale to tell. The problem is, there are three tales embedded in its framework, which includes familiar elements--the tension of “24” and the intrigue of “Homeland”--that add up to something less than the sum of its parts.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Unfortunately, the sheer number of coincidences derails the show’s attempts to seem real and relevant. Sometimes the camera pans from, say, Decker the lawyer to Walters the protester (who’s too naive to be trusted by so many hard-cases), and you’re probably supposed to think “small world,” or “everyone is connected,” but it’s all just way too forced.

Rob Owen

American Odyssey too often lacks the gritty realism of cable series that attempt similar, convoluted plots. It doesn’t catch viewers in a plot that feels real; rather, it feels like a planned, plotted, manufactured-for-your-enjoyment TV show.

Brian Lowry

American Odyssey feels strained, tired and devoid of nuance, related less to the disenchantment associated with what’s happening today than the paranoid political thrillers of the 1970s. Nor does the series gain strength over four subsequent episodes

Matthew Poland

American Odyssey wants to offer a critique of the power wielded by institutions, but unlike the best dramas whose structure it apes, the show's storylines aren't strands in an intricate mosaic; they're loose threads dangling from a droopy sweater--unnecessary, cumbersome, and just waiting to be snipped.

Robert Bianco

There's perhaps an outside chance that NBC's American Odyssey might not seem quite as impenetrably dull had we not already seen--or ignored--a hundred similar tales of terrorist conspiracies and government coverups. But we have and it does, and there's really no coming back from that.